The Towns of Portlaosie & Coulounieix-Chamiers in France

Coulounieix-Chamiers is a suburb of Perigeux (population: 66,000) in the Dordogne area near Bordeaux. It has a population of 9,000 with the main sources of employment being in agriculture, industry and tourism. It is an area of great interest to tourists with rivers, castles, churches and caves in its hinterland.

 "The aim of town twinning is to bring together people of different cultures, religions and beliefs but also to appeal to all social categories and age groups." Mon Dessaux Mayor of Coulounieix-Chamiers

The official twinning ceremony between Portlaoise and Coulounieix-Chamiers took place in April 1996.

Various exchanges have taken place between the two towns since 1996. These exchanges have taken the form of work placements, students, visiting officials, sports teams, schools, choirs and musicians.

The first St. Patrick’s weekend of the 21st century heralded one of the most prestigious visits ever to take place. The Mayor of Coulounieix-Chamiers, Monsieur Michel Dasseux agreed to accept Portlaoise’s invitation to act as Grand Marshall for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The weekend was an enormous success with representatives from both towns pledging to strengthen and develop the existing links.

People are becoming increasingly aware that the future can no longer be viewed in terms of any one particular country, and that close co-operation with our neighbours is the only way forward. Viewed in isolation a twinning between Portlaoise and Coulounieix-Chamiers may seem rather small-scale and marginal, but if all twinning arrangements are taken together, they amount to a movement of considerable substance.

There are, at present, over 10,000 municipalities in Western Europe involved in the scheme, ranging from villages to major cities.

While the local town-twinning process has an important role to play in the overall development of the European Union, Portlaoise can also benefit enormously if the link is exploited to its maximum potential. The majority of the citizens of Portlaoise have failed to recognise this potential so far.

Through our twinning relationship we must strive to ensure that the citizens of Coulounieix-Chamiers are fully aware of the attractions of Portlaoise in terms of tourism and the location of industry. We must ensure that in the minds of the residents of Coulounieix-Chamiers and the surrounding region that the very mention of Ireland, conjures up images of Portlaoise.

By promoting the town of Portlaoise among the school-children, business people, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens of Coulounieix-Chamiers, the benefits that could accrue are unknown and are only waiting to be discovered.

Why town twinning?

Getting to know and working with people from the other member states of the European Union is a valuable way of gaining greater insight into the issues involved in creating a more unified Europe. For over 40 years, citizens of thousands of villages and towns have been doing just this, through their commitment to establishing and maintaining town twinning links. Through these links, opportunities have arisen to exchange experiences in all areas of local life, resulting in relationships between the members of the European Union growing stronger all the time.

Town Twinning of Abbeyleix & Fougerolles Du Plessis

In 1995 the Abbeyleix Town Twinning Committee set up a programme to twin with French town Fougerolle du Plessis.

Since the inception of the programme, there have been many inter exchanges between the two communities, strong bonds have been formed with our schools and many lasting relationships have been formed.